When a ball comes toward you, either to your forehand
or backhand side, you have only three choices of direction in which to hit it
back--down the line, crosscourt, or down the middle.

You must also choose to hit it short or long, high or
low, or somewhere in between. There aren't a million choices, so you don't have
to think much. Brilliance in tennis is usually the player's combination of
instinct and experience.

The best professionals, whether intelligent or not, do
not rely on thinking while playing but on instinct and feeling. They have
drilled or executed their down-the-line or crosscourt shots so many times that
it is simple for them to decide where to hit, and to send the ball there.

They instinctively know where to hit--especially if
they wait to make that decision until they see how the ball is coming at them,
or how it has bounced. The more they delay their final decision on exact
direction and height, the better they find the ball, and then, when they have
the ball within their grasp, they make their decision and hit it there.

It is almost unbelievable how long you can wait before
committing yourself. For example, you can get to the point that you are
preparing to hit a down-the-line passing shot, and then, when you are almost
touching the ball, change your mind and hit it crosscourt. Your opponent
certainly is misguided by your early actions and usually gets caught going the
wrong way. This, of course, is at a very high level of play. But you need to be
aware from the beginning that waiting is far more valuable than rushing.

Drills

Drills are the best way to develop the feel of one shot
direction at a time so that you know where your shot is going.

It will also be easier to decide where to hit each
shot, as drills let you know your margin for error. For example, you observe in
a drill that your forehand down the line goes off a maximum of two feet to
either side of your intended placement. In a match you'll know to aim at least
two feet inside the court. The same would go for depth, taking into account that
there is less control for the length of your shot than for direction.

In these drills you need another player with good
control feeding you the balls. You should have a whole bucket of balls, and have
them fed to you in a precise sequence, to simulate playing conditions and avoid
unnecessary interruptions.

In most drills your friend will be standing to one side
of the court. You have to aim your shots to the open space of the court, not
back at your friend. This way you'll develop the idea of hitting to the open
court instead of sending the ball back to where your opponent is standing and
making his job easier.

Definitions

"Down-the-line shot:" A shot hit almost
parallel to the sidelines. If both players are right-handed, you hit from your
forehand to your opponent's backhand, or from your backhand to your opponent's
forehand (lines 1 and 2).

"Crosscourt shot:" A shot that you hit across
the court. If both players are right-handed, you hit your forehand to your
opponent's forehand, or your backhand to your opponent's backhand (lines 3 and
4).

"Down the middle shot:" A ball you hit toward
the middle of your opponent's court (lines 5, 6, and 7).

The Drills

Depending on your physical conditioning and your
advancement, hit twenty to thirty balls in each drill. With some advanced
players and professionals, I have used up to fifty balls per drill.

All these drills are not meant to be done in one day.
If you get tired, stop and come back another day. The idea is to build your
conditioning and stamina a little at a time while grooving-in your shots.

The same goes for the degree of difficulty that the
feeder creates with a shorter or longer time lapse between shots, as well as
with the placement and pace of delivery. The person feeding the balls is really
"the coach" and is at the service of the student. He's helping the
player develop confidence and assurance on his shots, not trying to make him
miss. Accordingly, he should adjust his delivery to see that the student has a
high percentage of successful shots.

Unpredictable increases of pace or difficulty are okay
while drilling a very advanced player or a professional, but only after he has
mastered the easier stage of the drill.

For the first five drills, use a can of balls or
another marker in the middle of the court, behind the service line if you are a
new player, inside the baseline if you are an intermediate player, or behind the
baseline if you are very advanced. Always round the can from the back of the
court and turn facing your opponent's court.

Some of these drills are explained more extensively in
the forehand and backhand chapters.

DRILL #1: Topspin forehands down the line, running
around the can after each shot. Turn left after your forehand shot, turn right
after running behind the can. The feeder stands across the net to your left, as
shown in the diagram.

DRILL #2: Topspin forehands crosscourt, running around
the can after each shot. The feeder stands across the net to your right.

DRILL #3: Topspin backhands down the line, running
around the can after each shot. The feeder stands across the net to your right,
as shown in the diagram.

DRILL #4: Topspin backhands crosscourt, running around
the can after each shot. The feeder stands across the net to your left.

DRILL #5: Backhand slice, alternating one shot down the
line and one crosscourt, running around the can after each shot. The feeder
stands across the net in the middle of the court, behind his service line.

DRILL #6: Forehand topspin inside out, avoiding your
backhand and going back to the middle after each shot. Start from the middle of
the court, without the can. Your friend tosses a ball about three to four feet
to your backhand side, at a slow pace. Turn left toward that side, go beyond the
line of the ball (the direction from which it is coming), turn toward the net
and hit a topspin forehand to your opponent's backhand court. Turn right after
your shot and go back to the middle. Your friend feeds another ball to your
left, and so on. The feeder stands to your left, but close to the center of the
court, as shown in the diagram.

This is a stressful drill, especially if you don't turn
properly.

The following drills are also done without the can of
balls. The feeder will feed balls one to each side, back and forth, but not too
quickly.

DRILL #7: Forehand down the line, backhand down the
line. The feeder stands across the net, in the middle of the court, as shown in
the diagram.

DRILL #8: Forehand crosscourt, backhand down the line.
The feeder stands across the net to your right.

DRILL #9: Forehand down the line, backhand crosscourt.
The feeder stands across the net to your left.

DRILL #10: Forehand crosscourt, backhand crosscourt.
The feeder stands across the net, in the middle of the court, behind his service
line.

DRILL #11: Volleys. Get near the net. Hit your forehand
volley down the line and backhand volley crosscourt. The feeder stands in front
of his baseline and to your left.

DRILL #12: Volleys. Forehand volley crosscourt,
backhand volley down the line. The feeder stands in front of his baseline and to
your right.

DRILL #13: Smash to the right side. You are near the
net and the feeder stands to your left, close to his baseline. He hits lobs to
you, and you smash to the open court.

DRILL #14: Smash to the left side. The feeder stands to
your right, close to his baseline. He hits lobs to you, and you smash to the
open court.

A good variation on the smash drill is to run up to the
net after each smash, then run back to hit the next one, and so on.

Overall, keep the ball safe and over the net. On the
groundstroke drills it is a good idea to hang a string two or three feet above
the net. Except for the sliced backhand and passing shots, all other
groundstrokes should clear this string. Even hard shots will go down in your
opponent's court if you hit them with enough topspin.

Service Drills

For the next few drills divide each service court in
half, as shown in the diagram. Place a can of balls in each half as shown, or
any other marker. On a clay court you can mark a line with your foot. This will
give you four areas to serve to, indicated in the diagram as 1, 2, 3, and 4.

If you are playing a right-hander, when you serve to 1
or 3 you are serving to his forehand. When you serve to 2 or 4, to his backhand.

The first court you serve to in a match is to your left
(A in the diagram). It is called the deuce court (see Chapter Twelve on scoring)
because that's where your serve has to land when playing the deuce point. The
service court to your right (B in the diagram) is called the ad (advantage)
court.

DRILL #1: Serve twenty balls to the deuce court, to
your opponent's backhand (area 2 in the diagram). Use your American Twist or
your spin second serve.

DRILL #2: Serve twenty balls to the ad court, to your
opponent's backhand (area 4 in the diagram), using your American Twist or your
spin second serve.

DRILL #3: Serve twenty balls to the deuce court, to
your opponent's forehand (area 1 in the diagram). Here, use more of a slice
serve to pull the ball and the other player off the court.

DRILL #4: Serve twenty balls to the ad court, to your
opponent's forehand (area 3 in the diagram). Use a slice serve to pull the ball
away from your opponent.

I have instructed you to first serve to your opponent's
backhand because that shot is usually weaker than his forehand. It is also your
primary choice for your second serve. The placement, speed and kick of your
second serve is probably more important than your cannonball first serve. At
many important stages in your service games you may want to throw a safe kicker
rather than risking a hard serve.

Hitting over a string two to three feet above the net
is a valuable practice tool to keep your second serves safe and deep. You'll
learn that serving up with spin makes the ball come down before the service
line, while still kicking up high and fast.

One way to jam an opponent's return is to serve into
his body. The exact placement varies with your opponent's skill. With some
players you hit to the body, some to the right hip or shoulder, others to the
left. Some are vulnerable to the high kicker, some to the slice.

You can try some different serves in the beginning of a
match, then stick to the option that gives your opponent the most trouble. With
some very skillful players none of these options to the body are very effective,
and you have to resort to placing a high kicker on their backhand as your first
serve in the closest scoring situations. Otherwise, should you risk your first
serve and miss, your opponent may take command of the point with a very forceful
return off your second serve.

Once you have practiced and mastered your second serve,
practice your hard serves, mixing them up as you like, to the four areas shown
in the diagram.

Advanced Drills

There are many advanced drills, some of which can be
done with someone feeding balls from a bucket, others by simply hitting back and
forth.

With someone feeding balls from a bucket, you can do a
combination such as an approach shot (to approach the net), then a couple of
volleys and a smash off the feeder's lob. On these drills, have the feeder stand
to one side and hit toward the open court.

Another drill is to hit "behind" your
opponent, sending the ball to the place your opponent just left. You can do this
with the groundstroke drills 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 11, and 12. Hit the ball to the
small space between the feeder and the sideline closest to him, instead of to
the open court. Your friend should stand a little more toward the center of the
court than in the original drill, to leave you a slightly larger opening,
depending on how advanced you are. It is best to disguise your shot by
"pretending" you are about to hit the open court, then change your aim
at the last possible moment and hit "behind." Disguising your shots
will keep your opponent off balance, unable to read where you are really about
to hit.

You can also do many drills hitting back and forth, but
the effectiveness will depend on both players' levels of advancement. For
example, one of the players can be at net and to his right, covering just half
of the singles court, while the other player is back. The volley player hits
away from the backcourt player, who has to cover the whole court and hit all
balls toward the player at the net.

In the next drill the player at the net moves to the
left half of the singles court and volleys from there, while the backcourt
player still covers his whole court, and hits back to the player at the net.

To become proficient at the net, have your friend stand
in his backhand corner, just behind the baseline, while you cover the whole net
and direct your volleys toward your friend. For the next drill, your friend
should stand in his forehand corner and you direct your volleys there.

These last drills can be combined with lobs and smashes
to get the net player away from the net and then back in for the next volley.
Keep a good supply of balls in a bucket by the center of the court. The bucket
and the singles sideline will be the boundary of the half court, determining the
area where the player at net has to hit all his shots.

One of the most strenuous drills, especially when done
between two pros or very advanced players, is with both players back, one in a
corner and the other covering the whole court. The player in the corner hits the
ball from side to side, while the other player returns everything back to the
same corner. It is a great conditioner for the legs and for the lungs, but
should only be tried by young tournament players in great shape, and only for
short periods of time. As with other stressful drills with one player stationary
and the other covering the whole court, you can switch back and forth after each
drill to give each other a rest.

The better the players, the more intense and more
tiring these drills can be. You can devise other drills in which to practice
your drop shot, your half volley, your serve and your service return.

A good way to practice your doubles game is to play
points crosscourt, using only opposite halves of the court. You first serve from
your right and your friend can only play to your right half of the court, all
the way to the doubles line. Likewise, you have to continue the point hitting
only to the half court to your opponent's right. The next point you serve from
your left and you both play crosscourt to the opposite side.

Overall, do the drills you like best and that help you
the most, depending on your needs and your stage of advancement. Don't overdo
any particular drill.

Keep yourself interested by making your drills as
interesting as a championship match.

I usually keep statistics for the drills I do, logging
the percentage of successful shots. Or I design a scoring system for the drills
where we hit back and forth. This keeps the player interested and trying his
best.